# Targeted Lead (Pb) Removal for Drinking Water Purification Using INCION®

> **NIH NIH R44** · POWERTECH WATER, INC. · 2020 · $451,195

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Lead contamination in drinking water is a pervasive health problem across the US. Children are
especially vulnerable to lead poisoning, which can have permanent detrimental effects on brain
development. Despite corrosion prevention measures taken by public water authorities, lead
concentrations in drinking water are routinely elevated nationwide. The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) established The Lead and Copper Rule in 1991 to limit exposure of
these elements and set the action level to 15 ppb; however, there is no safe level of lead
consumption. The crisis observed in Flint, Michigan in 2014 put lead exposure into the public
spotlight increasing consumer awareness.
Lead filters currently on the market lack specificity with limited device lifetime dictated by the
total amount of water volume filtered, regardless of lead concentration. PowerTech Water's
(PTW) INCION® M-Series technology platform is a multifunctional chemical/electrochemical
approach with ≥ 90% specificity for lead removal termed “capacitive coagulation”; a hybrid of
adsorption (capacitive) and immobilization (coagulation) mechanisms that permanently remove
all forms of dissolved lead, both complexed and free ions.
In this Phase II project, PTW's goal is to understand how to develop and validate a 2nd
generation INCION® M-series POU/POE system for dissolved lead removal from drinking water
that exceeds the performance of current off-the-shelf solutions. The device will be reliable and
specific for lead, have a multi-year system lifetime, and will not be consumed by abundant water
constituents. These performance targets will be achieved through the following Specific Aims:
1. Factorial design of experiments testing to meet certification. Expected outcome: INCION® M-
 Series performance to meet NSF certification standards NSF/ANSI 53 and 61.
2. Investigate electrochemical coagulation mechanisms to tune operating parameters for
 specific water chemistries. Expected outcomes: Determine the operating parameters that
 will best exploit capacitive coagulation for lead removal in different water sources and
 develop an operating matrix.
3. Parametric testing of system operations towards the design of a POU/POE device.
 Expected outcome: A set of design specifications to develop the INCION® device into a
 commercial product.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10018717
- **Project number:** 5R44ES028171-04
- **Recipient organization:** POWERTECH WATER, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Lindsay Boehme
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $451,195
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-15 → 2022-05-16

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10018717

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10018717, Targeted Lead (Pb) Removal for Drinking Water Purification Using INCION® (5R44ES028171-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10018717. Licensed CC0.

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